Edge Caching vs In-Memory Caching

Developers should use edge caching when building applications that require fast global content delivery, such as e-commerce sites, media streaming platforms, or APIs serving international users meets developers should use in-memory caching to accelerate read-heavy applications, such as web apis, e-commerce platforms, or real-time analytics dashboards, where low-latency data access is critical. Here's our take.

Edge Caching

Nice Pick

Developers should use edge caching when building applications that require fast global content delivery, such as e-commerce sites, media streaming platforms, or APIs serving international users

Pros

• It is particularly valuable for reducing load times, handling traffic spikes, and decreasing bandwidth costs by offloading requests from origin servers
• Related to: content-delivery-networks, http-caching

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

In-Memory Caching

Developers should use in-memory caching to accelerate read-heavy applications, such as web APIs, e-commerce platforms, or real-time analytics dashboards, where low-latency data access is critical

Pros

• It's particularly valuable for reducing database load, handling traffic spikes, and improving user experience in distributed systems by storing session data, computed results, or frequently queried database records
• Related to: redis, memcached

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Edge Caching if: You want it is particularly valuable for reducing load times, handling traffic spikes, and decreasing bandwidth costs by offloading requests from origin servers and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use In-Memory Caching if: You prioritize it's particularly valuable for reducing database load, handling traffic spikes, and improving user experience in distributed systems by storing session data, computed results, or frequently queried database records over what Edge Caching offers.

The Bottom Line

Edge Caching wins

Developers should use edge caching when building applications that require fast global content delivery, such as e-commerce sites, media streaming platforms, or APIs serving international users